Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 148 The Secret of a Real Man_1

Chapter 148: Chapter 148 The Secret of a Real Man_1

Seeing through the woman’s thoughts, Shen Wenchen tugged at the corner of his mouth.

There was really no need to make it so obvious, or he might start to doubt whether he was truly foolish.

"Ma’am, how did I end up here?"

He distinctly remembered collapsing from exhaustion in a forest.

"My old man went to chop firewood up the mountain, and he found you lying on the ground on his way. He dragged you back here, and you’ve been asleep for three days now."

As the old woman spoke, she didn’t forget to size up Shen Wenchen, feeling more satisfied the more she looked at him.

Even when unconscious, the boy looked so handsome, and now that he’s awake, he didn’t seem foolish, which made her like him even more.

"Thank you for your trouble, ma’am..."

Shen Wenchen said his thanks and tried to sit up, only to feel a piercing pain on his back, realizing that the old woman’s mention of being "dragged" back was not a mere figure of speech.

He probably had been dragged all the way back by that old man. Thinking of the old man’s limping figure, Shen Wenchen fell silent. It truly was a real bother to them...

Where had Zhui Yue gone to?

Thinking of his warhorse, with whom he had shared life-and-death experiences, and not knowing its whereabouts—perhaps even at risk of being captured and killed by bandits—Shen Wenchen’s complexion turned even paler.

Seeing him silent, the old woman also felt it was pointless to stay and thus stood up and left the room.

The old man sitting in the yard, seeing his wife come out, merely glanced over and asked, "How’s the boy?"

"He’s quite all right, but I don’t know if he’s taken a wife yet." The old woman, sounding worried, said, "Given how handsome he looks, I’m afraid he’s already married, and it wouldn’t be right for Xiuxiu to marry into a family as a concubine."

Thinking of her daughter, the old woman’s words nearly brought tears to her eyes.

It had taken twenty years of marriage for them to be blessed with Xiuxiu as their only daughter, and heaven knows why she fell ill and became mute. She was already twenty-one and still hadn’t been promised to a good family.

Don’t people in the county always say? A life saved is a life indebted, promised in marriage.

The couple wasn’t asking for much; they just wanted this young man to marry their daughter, ensuring that she’d be cared for after their passing.

The couple exchanged a glance and sighed softly.

Shen Wenchen in the room tried to struggle sitting up again, but the pain made him grit his teeth.

His entire back must have been rubbed raw.

Feeling the wound on his back sticking to his clothes, Shen Wenchen sighed silently.

The wound adhering to the clothes was the truly distressing part.

He wasn’t afraid of being hacked or slashed by swords; it was these "small pains" that were truly torturous.

Biting his lip, he peeled off the clothes from his back, and Shen Wenchen’s face turned deathly pale.

Looking at the black and yellow stains on the garment, he couldn’t help but ponder; the wound was severe, but it probably wouldn’t hinder his travel.

Zhiyu and her mother were likely in trouble by now, and he needed to hurry over.

Touching the wooden hairpin in his chest, Shen Wenchen took out a silver note from his waist and placed it on the table, as a token of thanks for the elderly couple.

By the time the old woman returned with a bowl of water, she found the room empty—where was the young man who had just been there? She stood stunned.

Where was he?

The old man, assuming something was amiss when his wife didn’t come out, hurried into the room with a limp.

"What’s wrong, wife?"

As he spoke, his eyes turned toward the bed, and seeing it empty, the old man thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Rubbing them, he stuttered, "Wha, wha, where did he go?"

The old woman’s complexion wasn’t great either. She remembered that the boy’s wounds on his back and heels were serious, all bloodied and messy; how could he have disappeared in just a short while?

Could it be that he guessed their intentions and preferred to limp away rather than marry their daughter?

Thinking of this, the old woman’s eyes reddened.

Her poor daughter...

With every step Shen Wenchen took, his brows furrowed more deeply.

Because his heels were chafed raw, he could only hobble along with the aid of a wooden stick, and the friction of his clothes against his wounded back made him break out in a cold sweat, the warm sweat trickling into the wound at his neck, causing his temples to throb with pain.

It wasn’t until the old woman sat on the bed weeping for a while that she discovered the banknote placed on the table.

"Look, look at this," she said, picking up the strange "paper" and trembling with her voice.

The old man got up and looked, somewhat in disbelief, "Wife, this is, this is a banknote for twenty taels!"

Twenty taels, a sum that would take him and his wife five or six years to save up...

"Xiuxiu’s throat can be cured now!" the old woman burst into tears as she spoke.

Her Xiuxiu!

Seeing his old wife like this, the old man also wiped away his tears.

Shen Wenchen had been walking for an hour before he finally stopped.

Only after blowing a whistle into the mountain and hearing Zhui Yue’s response did he sit down beside a tree, grinning with relief.

He had been whistling all the way, and now he had finally found it.

Waiting for Zhui Yue’s return, Shen Wenchen found some herbs that could stop bleeding and, after chewing them into a pulp, applied them to his wound.

He needed to hurry and find the mother and son...

It took Nanzhi two days to finish sewing her jacket and Zhiyu’s trousers, and she nodded in satisfaction.

Though they were a bit ugly, the warmth they provided was genuinely good!

She just wondered how her mom and the others were doing now.

Every time she thought of her family, Nanzhi’s spirits, which had just soared, fell again.

"Mom, what’s wrong?"

Zhiyu, having just put on the trousers his mom had sewn, saw her looking dejected and became immediately anxious.

What had happened to Mom?

"Zhiyu, dear, Mom just misses your grandma and the others," Nanzhi said, forcing a smile and stroking the little guy’s head, but she did not elaborate further.

"Sister Miaomiao, Sister Nanzhi, Zhiyu, time to get off the carriage for a meal."

Xiaohe lifted the carriage curtain and called out, although he was calling Nanzhi and Shen Miaomiao, his gaze drifted unintentionally toward the basket at the end of the carriage.

The two old hens, which had been dozing off with closed eyes, suddenly opened them wide as if sensing danger, shivering and huddling together.

Seeing their reaction, Xiaohe tossed his head proudly and snorted, "Just you wait!"

Nanzhi, on the other hand, found it rather amusing. Xiaohe always liked to lift the carriage curtain from the back, and his eyes always roved over those two hens. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had offered to drive the carriage and even took on cooking, she might have suspected that Xiaohe was there just for those two old hens.

Shen Miaomiao, however, unceremoniously helped Nanzhi into her new jacket then stepped off the carriage.

Nanzhi followed closely behind, leaving only Zhiyu and Xiaohe to exchange glances.

"You have to keep a secret for your brother, Zhiyu."

Xiaohe quietly leaned in and whispered in Zhiyu’s ear.

"Mm-hmm, it’s a secret among men!" The little guy nodded vigorously, making a promise.

Brother Xiaohe had said that as long as he kept the secret, he would make sure Mom was always well!

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